No. 2 Women’s Water Polo Sweeps Home Opener

Friday, January 23

Los Angeles, Calif.

5:45 p.m.

USC

3-0

UC Santa Barbara

1-3

UCSB 2026

USC (W)

Photo by: William Fosnot

No. 2 Women’s Water Polo Sweeps Home Opener

January 23, 2026 | Women's Water Polo

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

With the win, the Trojans move to 4-0 to begin the season

LOS ANGELES - The USC women's water polo team put on a dominant display of force with a clean sweep in its home opener. The No. 2 Trojans took down the No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 23-4 before claiming a 21-12 victory over the Biola Eagles.

#2 USC 23, #18 UC Santa Barbara
The Women of Troy were firing on all cylinders in the first home matchup of the 2026 season.

Right from the jump, USC controlled the game as Morgan Netherton got the squad on the board. From there, the Trojans were off and running as they put up eight goals in the first frame alone.

Emily Ausmus and Meghan McAninch each tallied a first half hat trick while Anna Reed and the defense shutout the Gauchos 15-0 heading into the break.

The Trojans handled business by putting up eight goals in the second half of play coming from seven different players to pick up its second win of the season over UC Santa Barbara.

Notables

Ausmus led the scoring in her first game of the 2026 campaign with four goals and added two assists.
Reed made five saves in 16 minutes of action and did not allow a goal.
Ashley Kwan and Natalia Blazevic both logged their first career hat tricks
The four goals allowed were USC's lowest total in a game since a 20–2 win over California Baptist in January 2025.
The Trojans' 23 goals mark their highest scoring output since a 23-goal performance against Brown in March 2025.

Scoring: Emily Ausmus (4), Meghan McAninch (3), Ashley Kwan (3), Natalia Blazevic (3), Ava Stryker (2), Ava Knepper (2), Rachel Gazzaniga (2), Morgan Netherton (1), Maggie Johnson (1), Hannah Carver (1), Payton Netherton (1)

Saves: Anna Reed (5), Lauren Schneider (4)

#2 USC 21, Biola 12
The Trojans kept their foot on the gas in the second game of the night. Sofia Umeda found the back of the cage just 19 seconds into the contest to get USC on the board.

The Eagles responded with a goal of their own but the Women of Troy answered right back with six unanswered goals to finish out the first quarter. To open the second frame of play, Rachel Gazzaniga picked up right where the team left off and sparked a 4-0 run to make the score 11-1 in favor of the Trojans.

Lauren Schneider made her first start of the season in goal and held the Eagles to just three goals while making 10 saves in the cage.

Although Biola was able to generate offense in the second half, the deficit was too much for the Eagles to overcome as USC earned its fourth win of the season.

Notables

Lauren Schneider recorded a career high 10 saves in 16 minutes of action.
Meghan McAninch tallied a top career mark five goals in the win.
USC racked up 21 goals from 10 different players.
Emily Ausmus collected six total points in the contest followed by five apiece from Ava Stryker and Meghan McAninch.

Scoring: Meghan McAninch (5), Emily Ausmus (4), Sofia Umeda (3), Ava Stryker (2), Rachel Gazzaniga (2), Madison Haaland-Ford (1), Morgan Netherton (1), Maggie Johnson (1), Caitlin Cohen (1), Natalia Blazevic (1)

Saves: Lauren Schneider (10), Anna Reed (3)

Up Next
USC will hit the road tomorrow for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the No. 21 San Diego State Aztecs with the game set for 1:00 p.m.